South Park: "Ginger Cow" Review

All hail the red heifer!

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November 7, 2013

Warning: Full spoilers from the episode to follow...

South Park's "Ginger Cow" is sure to spark a lot of debate among fans, and whether you enjoyed it or not, there's no denying that this episode brought up some great points worth discussing. When the satire hit this week, it hit hard, but with only 22 minutes to spare, it also felt like Matt and Trey didn't have all the time they needed to follow through on their complex, multifaceted examination.

On the surface, "Ginger Cow" had a few good jokes fueling the fire, although they were pretty one-note. Using Cartman's latest prank of dressing up a cow like a ginger and using it to incite a prophecy among all the world's religions was a humorous start to the shenanigans that followed. This episode only had a couple good laugh-out-loud moments -- the cow being "sacrificed" via airdrop, Van Halen's 10-year celebration, etc. -- but it was more the concepts behind "Ginger Cow" that kept it engaging.

While Cartman and Kyle's "yummy, yummy" fart schtick was only somewhat amusing, it did propel Kyle's inner struggle to receive a sizable regimen of flatulence in exchange for Cartman's silence about the truth. Ironically, what we learned at the end of this episode was that the truth would have set Kyle free. By making the prophecy a natural occurrence instead of a God-honest miracle, the whole episode was turned on its head (for better or worse) and made us entirely rethink the religious context. Unfortunately, the implications here were broad and scattered, without a concrete point. Much like some of the other episodes this season, "Ginger Cow" introduced some promising stuff that never quite panned out.

In fact, the most interesting part of this episode, for me, was the friction between Stan and Kyle -- more specifically, the fact that both boys had reasonable arguments on the subject of martyrdom. The idea of Kyle touting his "selflessness" with no explanation posed an intriguing question: Does boasting about self-sacrifice defeat the point? I think this aspect, by itself, could have been explored much more in depth, because honestly, both Kyle and Stan brought up some valid points. One of my favorite lines this week was Stan telling Kyle, "You can't suck farts and be a d*** about it." True enough... but what if peace in the Middle East were at stake? Again, this was a strong idea, but one that probably could have been analyzed further.

One thing in particular that bothered me, though, was that Cartman never got his comeuppance at the end of this episode. Lately it seems like, no matter how foul or despicable his actions, Cartman always gets away with everything he does. Here, in "Ginger Cow," it felt unbalanced. Instead of being properly punished (like he has countless times before in earlier episodes), he merely rubbed one last whipped cream fart into Kyle's face and walked away. This was a more a nitpick than anything else, but it nevertheless added to the unresolved nature of this storyline.

The Verdict

All said and done, South Park: "Ginger Cow" had a lot going for it in terms of concept, and this episode certainly hammered on a topic well worth discussing. Unfortunately, 22 minutes wasn't quite enough time to say all that needed to be said.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.